


Search and Rescue

by Lustfulcat



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: I guess I should tag for mermen sex, Levi loves mackerel, M/M, Mermen, Meruri, a little jeanmarco, and a little bit of springles, and his song is very pretty, connie has a gun, hacker!moblit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-25
Updated: 2018-05-25
Packaged: 2019-05-13 14:30:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14750666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lustfulcat/pseuds/Lustfulcat
Summary: Moblit just wants to get dinner but what he gets instead is a strange man in the road on the way home, a kidnapped friend, and an adventure that tells him more about mermen than he ever wanted to know. Hange is exceptionally pleased. Meruri. Based on the first season of Siren; written for MerMay.





	Search and Rescue

**Author's Note:**

> I had a blast writing this. I hope you guys enjoy. Kudos and comments are love.
> 
> If you haven't watched [ Siren](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Es9baWhwETg) I recommend it for a good old dose of mermaid fun. 
> 
> Talk to me about the Eruris on [ twitter](https://twitter.com/WorldWarEruri?lang=en) or [ tumblr](http://world-war-eruri.tumblr.com/)

"Jean, wait, slow down a minute!" Hange yelled into the phone, turning the radio off. 

Moblit sighed, hoping that he could get home from the Marine Center just once without a distraction. It had been a long day; the seal pups were acting up, and the staff was at their wits' end trying to soothe them. Hange was just as bad after Oluo had suggested sedating them and it took Moblit almost an hour to calm Hange down and drag them into the truck so they could try for some semblance of dinner. 

But those plans had been derailed as usual. Keeping tabs on the local sea life through the fishermen that visited their port, Hange had become close with many of them and a strange sort of surrogate parent to a few of the younger ones. They called with a host of problems way too often and Hange always offered what they could, which sometimes meant a place to stay or a few stitches after an unlucky accident. Health insurance was a bitch in this country and Hange never passed up an opportunity to use that one year of med school they took before discovering and falling headfirst into marine biology, dragging Moblit along with them. 

"What do you mean you caught something? Isn't that what you're supposed to do?" Hange put a finger in their opposite ear, concentrating as they listened. Moblit could hear Jean's voice squawking from the phone and it didn't sound happy. Jean's boat, _The 104_ , had been out for a few days with only a handful of crew, and Hange had been tracking their path into the Pacific via satellite. The weather had been fair and nothing seemed troublesome or out of the ordinary, until now. 

"Wait. _What?_ I'm putting you on speaker, Moblit has to hear this." Hange pressed a button and Jean's voice filled the van. 

"-ok him! They fucking took Marco!" 

Moblit stopped himself from hitting the brakes in shock; they were heading home on a windy back road and ending up in a ditch in the middle of nowhere would mean no dinner at all. 

" _Who_ took him?" he asked instead, wanting more details. People didn't get kidnapped at sea these days unless pirates were suddenly stalking the coast of Washington State. 

"Some black-clad military assholes. I think they were special forces, SEALs or something-" 

"Back up for a second, Jean," Moblit's brain wasn't fully around the situation yet. "Why were they on your boat?" 

Jean took a shaky breath, one that said he'd been crying. "We caught something in one of the nets, something big. We couldn't get a good look at it in the dark but it got loose and it tried to kill Marco!" 

"Was it a shark?" Hange supplied, eyes bright with thought, Moblit could almost see the wheels turning in their head. 

"It didn't move like one..." Jean took another shaky breath. "I know this is gonna sound crazy but it had a huge tail and it made a strange sound, almost like…like music and the boat _shook_.” He paused again, his breath still short and raw. “I saw it in the light for a few seconds and I swear to god, Hange, it looked human." 

Moblit tried not to swerve, his hands tight on the wheel. Hange was staring at the phone, silent for once. 

"But how did the military get on your boat?" he asked, trying to get a sense of the situation. 

"Whatever it was, it took a bite out of Marco and I got him below deck while Connie tried to trap whatever it was back in the net. But Marco…he was bleeding really bad.” Jean didn’t hold back a sob this time. “I radioed for a doctor, for anyone, and I think they heard our mayday. All of a sudden there were helicopters and guys rappelling down to our deck, they said to stand back-" 

"Shit," Moblit muttered under his breath. His blood felt like ice, and gooseflesh rose on his arms. Something about this wasn't right. 

"I tried to go with them but they held me back and almost shot Connie and Sasha! They took Marco and that...that _thing!_ You have to call the hospitals, Hange. I can't get into port until sunrise and I don't know where Marco is!" Hysteria climbed into Jean's voice. 

"When did this happen?" 

"Six hours ago. There was no signal until we got closer. You're the first person I called. What the fuck, Hange. What do we do?" 

"Head to my place as soon as you get in. I'll try the hospitals and some of the connections I have. Don't worry, we'll find him." Hange’s jaw was set firmly, the look on their face a reflection of what Moblit was feeling. They both knew that if the military stepped in and took a weird fish and a sick sailor off ship then this was big. 

What the hell did _The 104_ catch? Jean wasn't prone to delusions or panic, he was strangely even-keeled; it's what made him a good captain. And Marco was his compass, his other half. All puns aside, he had a sinking feeling they were getting in over their heads. 

"I'll keep in touch," Hange finished the call, and stared at the phone for a minute in shock. Their silence made Moblit uneasy. 

"It's a mermaid," they finally said, and Moblit wanted to laugh but instead he tried to keep the car on the road around a blind curve. 

"...right," was all he could muster. 

"I'm serious Moblit." Hange's voice was like steel. "It's a mermaid." 

"I wish I could believe you Hange but-" 

 _"LOOK OUT!"_   they screamed and Moblit slammed on the brakes, trying to avoid a man in the road. 

A very naked man who stood his ground, staring fearlessly into the headlights. 

Brakes squealing, the truck skidded sideways, all their gear and food for the Center tumbling in the back. Leaving long black marks on the road in their wake, they managed to come to a stop mere inches from the interloper. 

“The FUCK?!?” Hange yelled, trying to release the seatbelt, which was still holding them firmly. The force had ricocheted Moblit's head into the driver’s side window and by the time he cleared it, Hange was already out of the car. 

If there was naked man on a back road at night then meth was probably at play and Moblit wasn’t about to let Hange handle the situation without backup. He struggled out of the truck, head still spinning a little, and was almost around the front when Hange said, 

“Moblit. Stop. Stop where you are right now.” 

The headlights were facing the far side of the road so he couldn’t make out much but the man was still standing there. He was small in stature, dark-haired, with an elfish quality. 

But his eyes…Moblit must have hit his head really hard because the man’s eyes looked luminescent, like subtle silver lights. 

“What the hell?” he muttered, ignoring Hange’s order and taking another step. 

Then he heard the music. It was all around him, soft and strong, winding into his mind like a drug, like the most beautiful thing he’d ever heard. A million voices and none bringing him closer, closer, until he was plunging into silver. 

“Moblit, what are you doing?” Hange hissed, pulling him back by the arm. He blinked, still hearing the song but now it had faded into a faint echo, as if the volume had been turned down. Suddenly he was next to Hange, standing by the odd man, and he had no recollection of moving from point to point. 

“D-Didn’t you hear it?” he mumbled lamely, foggy and out of sorts. 

“Hear _what?_ ” Hange didn’t move their eyes from the stranger, caution in every muscle. 

“The music…” he tried to explain but couldn’t. He was hypnotized by whoever was in front of him. _Whatever_   was in front of him. 

Hange stiffened even more. “You heard music?” 

Moblit nodded, studying the stranger up close. His body was honed, finely muscled, his skin smooth and unmarred, and he stood unabashedly naked, almost prideful in his nudity, as if he were royalty and used to being treated as such. There was a fierce intent around him, and with the way he held himself, how he stared furiously, those silver eyes holding so many things, he seemed… 

Supernatural. 

“Air...oo...win” the man finally spoke, head tilting inquisitively, looking back and forth between them. His voice was raspy; it was a man’s voice but it held an odd quality, as if it could snatch Moblit up and swallow him whole. 

Hange jumped at the sound, taking Moblit with them. 

“What language is that?” Moblit whispered, studying the man with just as much interest as the man studied him. 

“I don’t know,” Hange whispered back. They took a step closer and the man bared his teeth, hissing a little. 

“…no way.” Hange said to themself. “No fucking way.” Then they risked another step. 

“Are you hurt?” they asked, using their soothe-the-seal-pups voice. “Are you lost?” 

The man looked between them in distrust and Moblit felt like they were trying to calm a rabid dog. 

“Air…oo…win!” he said again, with more insistence, his voice shivering through Moblit. It was like the song yet not, rippling in his brain. 

“Hange, what the hell is happening?” 

“Moblit, move slowly and get some fish from the back,” Hange breathed out. “I think we've got our own mermaid.” 

********** 

“So…you think he’s a mermaid?” Moblit asked, pacing back and forth in their living room. They rented a small cottage off the coast not too far from the Center and it was filled to the brim with thrift store furniture, bric-a-brac, books, computer parts and whatever various projects Hange was working on. The strange man was looking at one of those projects now, sniffing a dissected squid that was splayed out on Hange’s desk and raising his eyebrows. 

“I believe the correct term here is mer _man_ ,” Hange supplied without a hint of facetiousness. It had taken the better part of an hour but Hange had used their wiles to lure the man into the truck with some mackerel. He was suspicious at first, and kept repeating the same phrase, but eventually followed the scent of the open cooler, sticking his nose inside and inhaling with heavily-lidded eyes once he was settled in the back seat. 

As soon as the car had moved, the odd little man stopped sniffing the cooler’s contents and looked around in awe, as if it was his first time in a car. He placed his hand on the window, gazing out at the pitch black darkness beyond, and sat silently, not caring about Hange’s brazen stare. After a few moments he turned back to the container in his lap, then dug in and pulled out a fish, sniffing it once more before biting straight through it, bones and all. 

It took everything Moblit had not to skid out a second time, especially since Hange let out a creative string of swear words that would make a sailor blush. 

"Maybe...he just likes sushi?" Moblit tried, his brain still resisting what he’d witnessed in the last hour. 

"Did you see his teeth?” Hange’s voice was high-pitched, drunk on discovery. “They're pointed. And what about that song you heard?" 

"I hit my head." He rubbed the spot on his temple for emphasis, although there wasn’t even a bump. 

"You know that mermaids were sirens, right? They lured sailors to their deaths with pretty songs." 

"So we're believing _all_   the myths now? Is Poseidon going to climb out of the water and spear us-" 

"You're telling me that he's perfectly normal?" 

Moblit looked at the man, who stood like he wasn't used to standing. When he walked his steps were short and halting, as if he had just learned to balance on two feet. All of his motions were odd, curious yet wary, and he looked around at the world like he’d never seen it before with eyes that practically glowed. Everything about him screamed paranormal yet Moblit couldn’t say it out loud. 

"He hypnotized you, Moblit," Hange sighed, eyes tracking their houseguest, who had wandered into the kitchen. Gingerly, he turned on the faucet then jumped back in shock, eyes narrowing. 

“Waaah…ter?” he said, that voice still haunting Moblit. Stretching out a long finger, he touched the stream that poured into the sink and brought it to his nose with a scowl. 

“Bad waaah…ter,” he stated, looking offended. 

Moblit ran a hand through his hair. “Can we at least get him some clothes? I’m tired of looking at his-” 

“Very impressive penis?” Hange said with a laugh, waggling their eyebrows. After a moment their mirth died down, a serious expression replacing it. “This is connected to Jean’s catch somehow. I can _feel_   it.” 

“Didn’t you promise him you’d make some calls?” Moblit asked, going over to shut off the water as the man opened and closed the kitchen cabinets. He skittered to the side as Moblit approached, hissing again, and Moblit saw that Hange was right, his teeth were pointed. It made his stomach drop. Merman or not he was dangerous and all they had to defend themselves were a couple of dissection tools, an old baseball bat, and some very dull kitchen knives. 

However, if the creature was going to kill them then he would’ve done it on the road. He wouldn’t have gotten in their truck and went home with them. He stopped them for a reason. Hange must’ve thought the same thing because they approached him, stupidly unafraid, as usual. 

“Do you have a name?” they asked, keeping their hands out and visible. Moblit retreated to the border of the kitchen and living room, keeping a respectable distance – close enough to do something if there was trouble, yet far enough away so that their guest didn’t feel threatened. 

“Airoo…win,” the man said again. 

“Is that your name?” Hange was back to using the seal pup voice. 

The man tilted his head, then frowned, pointing out, toward the window. 

“Airoo…win” he insisted. 

Hange gazed out the window, past his finger, and then gasped with wide eyes. 

“Are you looking for someone?” they asked. “Someone out there?” 

The man changed expression, the next “Airoo…win” coming out in an affirmative tone, and Moblit could tell Hange had guessed correctly. 

“Are you looking for Airoowin?” Hange continued, pulling out one of the mismatched kitchen chairs and sitting down, folding their hands on the table. 

The man frowned when Hange mentioned the name but gave another emphatic and positive “Lo-ok for Airoo…win.” 

“And what does ‘Airoowin’ call _you?_ ” Hange pressed. 

The man stared at a chair across from Hange and mimicked their move haltingly, pulling it out and sitting down like he'd never sat in a chair before. He probably never had. 

It took a minute for him to speak, Moblit could see him trying to work the words out of his mouth, his throat and lips moving like they were new machines he was still learning to control. 

“Leee…v…vi” he finally stated proudly. 

“Well Levi, it’s nice to meet you,” Hange said with a smile. “I’m Hange and the guy back there is Moblit. And I think we can help you find this Airoowin.” 

********* 

Moblit fell asleep at some point, camped out on the couch where he could watch Hange and Levi talk. Or watch Hange ask questions and Levi answer hesitantly or not at all. They had managed to scrounge up some clothes for him, one of Hange’s old college shirts and a pair of sweatpants that fit somewhat, and Moblit had to show Levi how to put them on and roll up the legs, which left Hange choking with muffled laughter. Once dressed, Levi looked offended by the clothes, but that was his resting expression so Moblit didn’t think much of it. As long as he wasn’t hissing or trying to kill them then things were moving forward. 

It was close to dawn when Hange shook Moblit awake. 

“I need to go out,” they said, wallet and camera in hand. “Can you hold down the fort for an hour?” 

“Where are you going?” Moblit asked through a yawn, scrubbing a hand over his face. He didn’t even remember falling asleep. Cautiously, he looked around and found Levi curled up on the kitchen chair, staring at Hange’s laptop. 

“I’m getting breakfast and data,” Hange declared, holding up the camera. “I want to go back to where we found him.” 

“Please get coffee with that data,” Moblit stifled another yawn. When he was a student he could sleep a few hours on a couch, no problem, but now he was feeling all of his thirty-one years. “What is he watching?” He stretched, listening to his back pop and crack. 

“Sesame Street.” Hange cackled at the look Moblit gave them. “He’s got the basics of our language, I thought it would help.” 

“He’s going to think that giant yellow birds walk among us,” Moblit stated, watching them gather a few more things before heading to the door. 

“He’s a highly intelligent creature, Moblit. He knows they’re puppets,” Hange said as the door closed. As if to prove their point, Levi looked up at Moblit and arched a fine dark eyebrow. 

Without coffee to rescue him, Moblit must’ve dozed off on the couch again, sadly leaving his merman babysitting duties to the internet like he was some kind of suburban housewife. He only jolted awake when he heard footsteps on the porch, and took a glance out the window, where dawn had broke in pinks and yellows. 

“Hange?” Jean called from outside, making good on the promise to show up as soon as he could. Moblit realized with dread that they hadn’t even begun to look for Marco and was wondering how to explain the previous night when the door banged open. 

“Moblit! Did you and Hange find Marco?” Jean looked harried, with deep purple bags under his red-rimmed eyes, and he smelled like he'd just gotten off _The 104_. He had probably jumped into a cab straight from the pier, not even waiting for the boat to fully stop. 

He stomped into the living room, ignoring Levi, who hissed and jumped up, knocking over his chair. The clatter shifted Jean’s attention, and he glanced over. 

“Who’s that?” he asked, then took a step back as Levi charged at him. 

It happened so fast, one second Levi was in the kitchen and the next he was holding Jean up against the wall by the throat. 

With one hand. 

“ _Air-win!_ ” Levi’s eyes were slits of silver, rage coming off him in waves. “ _Where Air-win?_ ” 

Jean struggled to take a breath, his fingers futilely trying to pry Levi’s hand away, his legs kicking out but not connecting. Moblit sat frozen for a second at how the physics in this situation were just wrong, Levi wasn’t even close to Jean’s size yet he was holding the sailor up as if he weighed nothing. 

They had severely underestimated Levi’s strength. 

“Levi, wait!” Moblit approached quickly yet carefully, attempting his own seal pup voice but it came out squeaky and nervous. “He’s a friend! Please, put him down!” 

Levi turned with another hiss, sharp teeth bared, and all of Moblit’s doubts about Levi’s identity dissolved; he wasn’t looking into the eyes of anything human. And he didn’t have much time before the creature in front of him snapped Jean’s neck. 

“Levi!” Hange appeared in the doorway, dropping the shopping bag in their hand as they rushed to the scene. “Jean can help us! Stop!” 

Unmoved, Levi turned his gaze back to Jean, who was turning purple and going limp. “Hurt…Air-win.” He let loose a feral growl. “To-ok Air-win.” 

“He didn’t take Airwin, Levi, someone else did,” Hange tried. “And he can help us find your friend. He’s looking for his own friend and they’re probably in the same place! Please, let him go.” 

A few long seconds passed before Levi snarled and dropped Jean in a heap, then stalked back into the kitchen and sulked in the corner. 

“Wh-” Jean rubbed at his throat, coughing until he could croak out. “What the fuck just happened?” 

“You met our merman,” Hange said, going to Jean and checking him over for injury. Moblit could already see a ring of reddish-blue bruising around his neck. 

Jean stared at Hange as if they’d suddenly sprouted four heads. 

“And that thing you caught last night? The weird fish that attacked Marco?” Hange stood, satisfied that Jean was going to live, and went back for the bag they dropped, closing the front door. “It was his friend.” 

“Not friend,” Levi declared from the kitchen. 

“Airwin is not your friend?” Hange blinked. 

“Not friend,” Levi stated again. Moblit could see him searching for the right word. “He…” The stern expression Levi usually wore faded into something stricken, distraught, and he put a hand on his chest, right over his heart. 

“Oh my god,” Hange sounded mournful. “Is Airwin your mate?”

Levi considered for a moment then tilted his head. “Yes. Mate.” 

Hange let out an AWWW that was too high-pitched for the early hour and Moblit grabbed the shopping bag out of their hand, looking for coffee but only finding a pile of fish, fresh from the market. 

“I thought there was coffee?” he whined. “No dinner last night and now no coffee?” 

“Um…” Jean croaked again, still on the floor rubbing his neck. “I have no idea what’s going on.” 

********** 

“Are you sure he isn’t some meth head?” Jean asked from the couch, staying far away from Levi, who was perched on the kitchen chair avidly watching Hange open the package of fish that they’d bought earlier. 

“Have you ever seen a meth head look like this?” Hange took out a large striped bass, which Levi quickly snatched from their hand and bit into, crunching on the bones. 

“Holy _shit,_ ” Jean choked out, looking like he wanted to fly over the back of the couch and out the door. "How in the actual _fuck..._ " 

“His teeth are pointed, Jean. He sung to Moblit-" 

“What!?” Jean swung his shocked, wide-eyed gaze to Moblit, who scratched his head, taking a sip from the coffee that Hange had picked up but left in the truck. 

“I can still hear it,” he shrugged. “Sort of.” It was like getting a melody stuck in his mind but it soothed him, drew him, and it was like nothing he’d ever heard before. He knew it would probably stay with him for awhile. 

“And that’s not all!” Hange said, taking the camera off their neck and flipping through the photos until they stopped on the right one. “I went back to where we found him, walked through the woods toward to the ocean, and saw _this_.” 

A large fish tail filled the display, long and iridescent despite how dusty it looked, and Moblit actually gasped. It was undeniably part of their merman. All his years in marine biology and he’d seen nothing like it. Jean squinted at the photo but looked less and less skeptical as Hange flipped through more pictures, all at different angles. 

“It was right at the tree line, already falling apart,” Hange stated. “It turned completely to dust as I took a sample.”  

“B-But…” Jean grasped at reason, his voice still raspy, “but there’s been no mermaid sightings in recorded history.” 

“Where do you think the legends come from?” Hange put the camera down, watching Levi finish his fish and reach for another. 

“No bodies ever float to the surface,” Jean continued, more to himself than those around him. “No modern day technology has _ever_ found proof.” 

Levi snorted, swallowing a mouthful of bass. “Humans…stupid.” 

“I’ll drink to that!” Hange cackled, holding up their coffee in a toast. Taking a long sip, they put both the camera and the coffee down and fixed Levi with one of their analytic stares. 

"Can your kind always walk on land?" 

"Can," Levi replied, still munching on his fish. “But no tail hurt.” 

“So it’s painful to transform?” 

“Yes.” Levi stopped eating to sneer. “Much pain.” 

“But all that pain is worth it to find Airwin.” It wasn’t a question. 

Levi didn't say anything, he only looked at them as if the answer were obvious, and went back to the bass in his hands, finishing it in a few bites, slurping down the tail and making Jean cringe. 

“Ugh,” Moblit looked at his watch, “why is it seven thirty already? Someone has to open the Center in a half hour.” 

“Can’t Oluo handle feeding time?” Hange asked, eyeballing Levi, who wiped fish guts from his face with an odd sort of daintiness. 

“He can but we’re getting deliveries and a school field trip today. There needs to be at least two people in-” Moblit stopped short, a thought side-swiping him. “Do you think he was the reason the pups were agitated last night?” 

Levi gave what could be interpreted as a snort. 

“Definitely,” Hange nodded, almost proud of their merman. “But I have no idea how he knew Jean or knew to come here.” 

Bushing his hands on the sweatpants, Levi looked at them. “With Air-win. Under boat. Him-” he pointed at Jean with a snarl and Jean paled, “took Air-win on bird. I follow.” 

“So if Levi swam after the copter and came ashore here then Marco and Airwin are close,” Hange mused. 

“We still haven’t checked the hospitals,” Jean stated. 

Hange nodded absently. “You’re right. Moblit, go to the Center and get out as early as you can. I’ll make some calls and we'll figure out a plan when you get home.” 

Moblit sighed, heading to the bathroom for the quickest shower on record. It was going to be another long day. 

********** 

The day wasn’t as bad as Moblit had feared. Oluo was helpful for once, probably because he brought in Petra to see the place and consider being an intern, and he mooned over her so much that his attempts to impress her made him a hard worker. 

After deliveries Moblit switched between snoozing at his desk and eating take out, making up for missing dinner and breakfast. He was in his thirties now, coffee could only sustain him for so long. He even pawned the field trip off on Oluo, knowing that it was a dangerous idea, but he hoped Petra would keep him in check and she did. 

It was close to three when he finally made it back home, greeted by Jean out cold on the couch and Hange weighing Levi in the bathroom. 

“No shit!” Hange was exclaiming, their voice carrying through the cottage and leading Moblit to them. “This can’t be right.” They helped Levi off the battered white scale, then weighed themselves, frowning. 

“What’s going on?” Moblit asked, shrugging off his jacket. "Did you sleep at all?" 

"Sleep is for the weak," Hange stated, ushering Levi back onto the scale. “And this thing says he weighs two hundred and sixty pounds.” 

Moblit let out a laugh of disbelief. “But he can’t be more than five foot three. Even with all that muscle I’d say he’s about a hundred and fifty.” 

“The scale is right,” Hange said, gesturing toward it. “Two hundred and sixty pounds...I wonder what his bone density is like.” 

Levi, tired of being examined, left the bathroom and stalked back to the kitchen chair, Hange and Moblit close behind. 

“Are there more of you?” Hange asked, taking a seat opposite Levi. They’d asked the question last night, when Levi was less trusting and stoically quiet, but now he seemed a little more forthcoming. 

“Many,” Levi said with a devious smile that made Moblit uneasy. 

“Where do you live?” 

“Deep water,” Levi replied, his fluency shocking Moblit. He came out of the ocean barely able to speak but it had only been a day and now he was almost forming sentences. His intelligence was off the charts. Were all merpeople like this? 

“Then why were you and Airwin by _The 104?_ ” Hange persisted. When Levi tilted his head, not understanding, Hange added, “The boat? Why were you by the boat?” 

Levi frowned, not at Hange but at memory. “Airwin search.” 

“What was he searching for?” 

“Only search. Airwin...” Levi was looking for the right word again. 

“Is he curious?” Moblit supplied, knowing someone else in this very cottage who was guilty of that. 

“Yes. Airwin curious,” Levi stated, nodding like a human. “He go where not allowed.” 

Moblit let out a chuckle. “And I bet you follow him to make sure he doesn’t get in trouble.” 

Levi set his lips in agreement and Moblit gave Hange a knowing look which they ignored. 

“Need to find Airwin. Soon,” Levi pushed, scratching under the collar of his shirt. 

“Did you make those calls?" Moblit asked Hange while staring at Jean, who was now drooling on their couch. 

“We called all the hospitals in a two hundred mile radius and no sign of Marco.” 

“But you didn’t think he’d be in a hospital,” Moblit stated with a rueful grin. 

“Not if some kind of Navy SEALs took him off _The 104_. I’m with Levi, they’re holding him somewhere close.” 

“But…” Moblit side-eyed the merman, who was staring at Hange’s laptop again although nothing was playing on the screen. “If the military has him, then…” he let the knowing thought trail off, not wanting to voice what could happen to an alien creature in the wrong hands. Experimentation was the nicest of many nasty options. 

“You think he’s dead?” Hange asked, with no hint of tact. 

Moblit sighed, “Hange I was trying to-” 

“No.” Levi put his hand on his chest like he’d done last night. “Feel him. Not…dead.” 

“You can feel if he’s alive?” Hange pushed their glasses up, staring a hole through Levi, who nodded. 

“Airwin strong. But find him. _Soon_.” 

Hange's phone trilled and they glanced at it with a squeal. “Give me a minute!” they said, texting furiously. 

Eyes wandering, Moblit noticed that Levi was scratching again, right at his collar, where his skin was starting to peel. 

“How long can you stay out of the water?” Moblit’s voice was soft, not wanting to distract Hange. 

Levi looked at him, pursing his lips and saying nothing. 

“There’s more than one reason you have to find him soon,” Moblit kept going. “If you stay on land too long, you’ll die.” 

Levi's expression turned furious, those silver eyes telling Moblit to shut the fuck up. 

“Okay!” Hange said, wagging their phone in the air. “Mike just sent me some _very_   interesting information. You know how Nanaba works traffic control over at that little airport in the next county?” 

Moblit nodded absently, too distracted by what he'd just learned but trying to pay attention. Jean stirred on the couch, Hange’s squeal probably waking him, and rubbed his face, sitting up and listening from the living room. 

“Well they had to get clearance for an emergency military _practice flight_   last night.” Hange drawled ‘practice flight’ so hard that Moblit could almost see the air quotes. “Right at the exact same time they’d be flying back from _The 104_.” 

“Does Nanaba know where they went?” Jean asked, warily moving closer to the kitchen, the hope in his eyes stabbing Moblit in the chest. 

“Not exactly. But this is where Moblit comes in,” Hange stated. 

When Hange had left med school and dove headfirst into marine biology, it only took Moblit a year to follow. He’d been trying for a computer programming degree but the curriculum wasn’t challenging enough for him. Basically, he liked to hack and while he wasn’t great at it, he wasn’t the worst out there. His skills were rusty though, especially for what Hange was hinting at. 

“You want me to break into a classified military operation and find out where one of their copters went?” Moblit coughed out in shock. “That is above my pay grade.” 

“That’s why you’re not doing that,” Hange stated with confidence. “You’re going to hack into the airport’s records and track the copter. Nanaba can’t do that without getting fired but she did provide some passwords that should get your foot in the door.” 

Moblit smiled, feeling hope for the first time that day. “Well, if she’s going to make it easy on me then I can’t resist.” 

********** 

A few hours later Moblit was watching his computer screen, waiting for any sign of life. What most people didn’t realize was that hacking was terribly boring, a lot of thinking and waiting around, not nearly as glamorous as television and movies made it out to be. In fact, it wasn’t glamorous at all. It was mostly ennui with a few brief moments of sheer excitement. 

The cottage was subdued. Jean had gone out to get dinner and tell Sasha and Connie whatever he could without mentioning mermen. It was Hange's call, the less who knew about Levi the better. Loose lips not only sunk ships, they made the military break down your door and raid your place. 

Busy studying the sample they’d gotten of Levi’s tail, Hange was off in the corner, their attention torn between the microscope and the data they’d accumulated on their laptop, which was now free since Levi was dozing on the couch. 

Levi looked a lot less threatening in slumber. With his strange silver eyes closed he seemed almost human. And a little lost. He curled in on himself, twitching here and there, taking up only one sofa cushion. 

“So he does sleep,” Hange said softly as they came over, staring at Levi in wonder. “I guess his kind have to rest some time.” 

“Hange," Moblit whispered, glancing at Levi to make sure he didn't stir. "We have to find them and get Levi back in the water soon.” 

“I know,” Hange said. “I saw his skin. And it’s spreading. But I don’t think he’ll go back without Airwin.” 

“Then he’ll die.” 

Hange pursed their lips, looking into Moblit's eyes. “Would you go back in the water if it was me?” 

“No,” Moblit said without hesitation, gathering Hange into his lap and kissing them gently. “Not in a million years.” 

Hange wrapped their arms around Moblit, settling against him. “Then don’t ask Levi to do it.” 

A few moments of contented silence passed, Moblit stroking Hange's tangled hair while he stared at Levi. 

"There's a merman in our cottage, a real merman," he finally said, breaking the reverie. "Shouldn't we be freaking out more?" 

He felt rather than heard the chuckle. "Maybe," Hange replied. "But I always believed that legends and myths were closer to truth than fiction. I never lost the wonder I had as a child. And neither did you. You're just confirming something that you knew, deep down, already existed." 

"But we're scientists!" Moblit persisted, albeit futilely. "We rely on facts. Not stories." 

"Facts are confirmed stories. And science is not faultless. Besides, you followed me into marine biology so you could find things like this. Make discoveries." 

"I followed you so you wouldn't drown on your first research mission." 

Moblit's computer, a towering beast that he built himself, chose that moment to ping, letting him know it hit pay dirt. Setting Hange back on their feet, he turned to it, scrolling for a moment, then typing some more before scrolling again. 

"What is it?" Hange asked, peering over his shoulder. Levi moved on the couch, sitting up and watching intently. 

"The copter landed right here," Moblit brought up a satellite map of the location, pointing to a warehouse on the outside of town. "It says the place has been abandoned for years but-" he brought up another window and studied it. "They're using utilities like crazy and look at this-" 

He zoomed in on the map and Hange gasped, leaning closer to the monitor. "Who puts a wall like that around an abandoned warehouse?" 

"Exactly," Moblit agreed. "And that's a keycard entry." He put his finger on the spot where the wall opened, right above an arm barrier and what looked like two sentry guards. 

Hange let out a long breath. "How the hell are we gonna get in there?" 

"We need a plan." Moblit cracked his neck. "A really good plan." 

********** 

"So you think Marco is in there?" Jean said, looking through binoculars at the warehouse, which was most definitely not abandoned. Cars were coming and going, stopping at the checkpoint they’d spotted via satellite, and not only was there a wall around the property, there were cameras and guards as well. Not the kind of place that wanted surprise visitors, or treated them kindly. 

“I think it’s the best lead we have,” Hange stated. They knew the town pretty well and managed to find a vantage point in the woods far enough away where they wouldn’t be spotted but close enough to study the warehouse. There was a chance that guards patrolled the woods too but they were dressed in hiking gear and decided that if they were found, Moblit and Hange would start fighting about how they were lost and _someone_ should’ve brought a map. 

“What about you, Levi?” Moblit asked, turning to the merman. “Do you feel Airwin in there?” 

Levi, who had changed into black cargo pants and a long-sleeved grey shirt that were also Hange's, was furiously scratching at his arm. Despite how much he was covered, the rash of peeling skin was clearly visible, climbing up his neck and onto the backs of his hands. It was like his human skin was only temporary and, when it was quiet, Moblit could hear him breathing like he was struggling for air, his lungs temporary as well. 

“Yes,” Levi wheezed. “Close.” 

“What do we do?” Jean’s voice was pressed with urgency. “We can’t just walk in there.” 

Moblit took the binoculars from Jean and watched another car leave, the driver flashing its badge to the man at the gate and taking off with a wave. 

“I have an idea,” he said. “But we need Connie and Sasha.” 

“I’ll call them now,” Jean stated immediately, pulling out his phone. 

“This won’t work without Levi though,” Moblit looked at the merman again, who seemed very worse for wear but never complained, never uttered a word about it, he just stayed resolute, firm, determined. Taking in a breath Moblit asked, “Are you still able to sing?” 

********** 

They pulled into town to wait for Connie and Sasha, Jean offering to get them more coffees and both Hange and Moblit gladly taking him up on the offer. Hange said something about getting more fish and Levi shook his head. 

“But you need your strength if you’re going to sing,” Hange insisted, pulling the truck a little further up the street and parking in front of a hardware store. 

Levi, who still looked around with sharp interested eyes despite his physical state, took in a breath and stopped scratching for a second. 

“Airwin!” he pointed at the sign on the hardware store, where ‘Erwin’s Nuts n’ Bolts’ shone in bright red lettering 

“Wait,” Hange said incredulously. “His name is Erwin?” 

"Wait,” Moblit echoed. “He can _read?_ " 

Levi ignored him, nodding. “Erwin” he said again, the musicality in his voice giving the Er a slight “Air” sound but it was the same name. 

“How did he learn how to read?” Moblit continued, shocked to the marrow. 

“Well, he did watch Sesame Street,” Hange mused. “And Reading Rainbow. I wish I had time to give him an IQ test!” 

Moblit didn’t realize his mouth was hanging open until his jaw hurt. Levi had only been on land for thirty-six hours and he could read the language already. If merpeople decided to invade, humans didn’t stand a chance. 

Hange opened the door. “I’ll be right back, our guest needs a snack.” 

“Why don’t you let me get it?” Moblit said, still shook. “I think I need some air.” 

Connie and Sasha had arrived by the time Moblit got back, along with Jean, who had caffeine for everyone. They decided to move their planning session into Connie’s van, which had plenty of room, and as they all piled in, he jerked a thumb at Levi. 

“Who’s this?” he asked, taking a large swing of his coffee. Sasha sat next to him, digging into a bag full of French fries that they'd stopped to get on the way. 

“Levi,” Hange told them. “And he’s the biggest part of our plan.” 

********** 

“Okay, does everyone know what they need to do?” Hange said, strangely commanding, as if they were used to leading covert search and rescue operations. Moblit wondered if they’d been in the military in a past life then dismissed the thought with a grin. 

“I still can’t believe it. _Mermaids,_ ” Connie said, shaking his head. Both him and Sasha had been skeptical until Levi dug into the mackerel Moblit bought, and their experience on _The 104,_ along with Levi’s teeth and demeanor, quickly swayed them. 

“Mer _men_ ,” Hange corrected. 

“What, like there aren’t ladies underwater too?” Connie shot back. “ _Are_ there ladies underwater?” he asked Levi, who studiously ignored him. 

Moblit sighed, feeling like he had to make some disclaimer since this was his plan. “Listen, if anyone wants to back out, they should do it now. If this doesn’t go right we could die…or disappear.” 

“You mean like Marco did?” Jean scoffed. “I couldn’t live with myself if we didn’t at least _try_ to find him _._ ” 

Sasha and Connie nodded along with Jean. The set of Hange’s spine told Moblit they were not backing down, and Levi’s expression was hard, fierce. 

“Okay then,” Moblit grit his teeth. His fifteen year old hacker self would think he was badass but he only felt nauseous. “Let’s go.” 

********** 

“We’ve got a black Honda Accord leaving right now. Looks like a woman in scrubs,” Hange said into the phone, everyone on conference call. Moblit and Levi were with them, back in the woods, at the same place they used to survey the building earlier. 

“Roger that,” Jean said, and Moblit snatched the binoculars from Hange, looking down at the only back road that lead toward the warehouse. Connie’s van came into view, then stopped, parking halfway across the lane. Sasha got out and popped the hood, taking on the role of Helpless Frustrated Woman, complete with tears, while the other two stayed out of sight in the back. 

It was near sunset and traffic was nonexistent on that empty stretch outside of town, so it took just a few minutes for the Honda to appear. Sasha jumped out in front of it, waving her hands frantically, and the car slowed to a stop, the window sliding down. 

Sasha leaned in, talking to the woman, thanking her profusely for stopping to help out. 

And then maced her. 

Sasha’s phone was still on so Moblit could hear the woman’s screams and Sasha’s continuous apologies. Right on cue, Jean and Connie flew out of the back of the van and opened the car door, grabbing the woman, who fought like an animal. Despite being blinded, it was quite a struggle to drag her out of the driver’s seat and she managed to free an arm and a leg, catching Connie’s face with one of her fists and kicking Jean in the groin, causing them to drop her, and Moblit heard the sickening crack of her skull on the pavement before she went limp. 

"Shit," Hange muttered, taking off through the woods toward the road, Moblit right on their heels, Levi limping behind, hampered by his lung capacity. He seemed to be getting worse by the minute and Moblit turned to him, slowing down and letting Hange get to the scene first. 

"Are you sure you're up to this?" he asked. 

Levi scorched him with a glare. " _Yes_. Erwin close. Find Erwin _then_   water." 

Moblit sighed, lessening his pace just incase the merman dropped like a stone. By the time the two of them finally spilled out onto the road, Jean and Connie were moving the woman into the woods out of sight behind some bushes and Hange was rifling through the car. 

"She'll be fine. At the most she'll have a concussion. Besides," Hange held up the woman's badge and stared at it with a raised eyebrow, strangely calm for the situation at hand, "she's some kind of military nurse." They shrugged. "I'm sure she's been in worse situations." 

Moblit cringed. They were criminals now, no way around it. But whose crime was worse? Theirs or the military's? They might never see Marco again and Levi would lose his mate. Luckily they hadn't killed anyone… 

 _‘Yet’_ still echoed in his mind, like Levi's song. 

"If she's a nurse..." Moblit muttered, his brain coming back on track. "Then that means-" 

"There's a really good chance that Marco is in there, yes." Hange popped the trunk and smiled. "Here," they tossed a set of blue scrubs at him, the same kind the woman was wearing. "Put these on." 

They were lucky that no cars passed while they changed and Connie pulled the van completely off to the side of the road, under the shadows of a few trees. Dusk was falling and Moblit hoped it fell quick, quick enough to hide their getaway car as they piled into the Honda: Hange driving, Levi in the passenger seat, Moblit in the back with Connie and Sasha, who were hiding on the floor as best they could, and Jean very unhappily in the trunk. There were only three sets of scrubs so Hange and Moblit were decked out in blue, along with Jean. Levi had only sneered at the clothes, scratching his skin and staying silent. Moblit had a hunch that he was conserving his energy for the song. 

The plan was to use a familiar car to get close enough to the entrance for Levi to sing to the guards, and then either use the key card or the guards themselves to let them onto the property. As they approached, Moblit started sweating through the scrubs but Hange seemed unruffled, like they were actually enjoying the entire thing. 

One of the sentries waved as they pulled up to the gate, shading their eyes against the headlights. Stopping the car at the orange and black striped arm that blocked their entry, Hange rolled down all the windows and turned to Levi. 

"Okay Levi," they said. "Give it all you've got." 

Moblit expected some blast of noise but it was slow at first and the guards made it to the car without stopping. For a few panicked seconds he was sure the plan was going south but then he instantly relaxed. The song was right there, under him, around him, starting soft but building in infinite amounts, its melody familiar yet not, feeling both new and ancient, as if every voice that had ever sang was singing at this moment. It carried him along a silver river, winding around his brain once more and making him want to do anything Levi asked, forever. 

Something shifted beside him and he broke from the spell as Connie climbed over him, trying to get to Levi, reaching out to touch him. 

"Hey," Moblit said, groggy as he came out of the trance. Grabbing Connie's shoulder, he gave it a hard shake. "Wake up." 

Connie turned to him, clearly out of it, his pupils dilated, and Moblit heard Sasha gasp. A few more shakes and eventually Connie blinked, sinking back into himself, looking simultaneously scared and confused. 

"The hell was that?" he asked in a shaky voice. 

" _That_ was Levi," Moblit said almost proudly, the echo of the song now doubled over in his head. He wondered if would fade or if he'd hear it for the rest of his life. 

"Th-That wasn't normal," Connie croaked. 

"I didn't hear _anything_ ," Sasha declared in a huff. 

"Hey, guys?" Hange called out, the car pulling through the gate as the arm lifted. "We're in." 

********** 

The base was much bigger up close. Moblit had managed to download some schematics, including maps of the inside of the place and where the utilities were, but that was from when it was just a simple warehouse. Now it was something much more sinister; something they had to break into and out of. 

Hange reversed into a parking spot opposite the side of the building, hiding them between two trucks away from prying eyes, in an area with no obvious cameras. 

"Erwin close. _Close_ ," Levi wheezed, getting out of the car in a way that let Moblit know he wasn't terribly steady on his feet. The song had taken a lot out of him and his skin looked sallow, the peeling apparent on his face. 

"What's happening to him?" Connie asked from Moblit's side. 

"He's dying, that's what's happening," Hange stated. "Which means we need to get this done fast and get him back in the water." 

"I'm all for fast," Jean said, cracking his spine after being curled up in the trunk. 

"Then let's go," Connie said, pulling a handgun out of nowhere and checking the safety. 

"Holy _shit_ ," Jean almost yelled. "Where the hell did you get that?" 

"Sasha bought it for me," Connie puffed up his chest and Sasha threw him a smile. "My mama always said that you don't show up to a party empty-handed. You think they don’t have guns in there?" 

"Let's try not to kill anyone?" Moblit offered, but he did see the reasoning. If they were found they weren't going to be welcomed with open arms. Maybe bringing Levi as their only weapon wasn't the smartest part of the plan. 

“First things first, let’s get inside,” Hange declared, brandishing the keycard and taking the lead. They scurried across the parking lot to a side door that had cigarette butts littered around it and was probably only used for smoking breaks. Waving the badge in front of a panel near the doorknob, Hange let out a small squeak of glee as its light went from red to green and the door clicked open. 

They piled inside, finding themselves at the end of a dim hallway, with numerous unmarked doors on either side. Hange picked the first one that didn’t have a strip of light at the bottom and Moblit let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding as they entered a small office. He was sure that alarms would blare at any time and the room would be stormed by men with better guns than Connie’s, but that didn’t happen. 

It was silent in the room, Levi’s wheezing the only thing Moblit could hear, and he started as Hange flicked on their phone, going over the warehouse’s floor plan again. 

“Everyone know what they have to do?” Hange said, looking them in the eye, one at a time. All of them nodded but Levi, who tilted his head in agreement, scratching at his chest. 

The grin that spread over Hange’s face was nothing short of maniacal. 

“Let’s go get Marco and Erwin.” 

********** 

They started a fire in the office. Distraction was their biggest ally, along with Levi, but with how sickly he looked they knew that they couldn’t rely on his song or his strength as a certainty. So they relied on Hange’s strength, which was creating chaos. 

Gathering most of the paperwork they could find into a small trashcan and scattering the rest across the floor, Connie threw a lit match into the bin and Jean held it up to the ceiling until the sprinklers turned on, soaking all of them and the hallway outside immediately. The wail of a fire alarm quickly followed, ringing throughout their part of the building. 

“Wait a second” Connie said, pointing at Levi, who was drenched and shivering. “Why isn’t he growing a tail?” 

Hange looked insulted. “Unlike you, I’ve considered every part of this plan. It’s not his water.” 

“Not _his_ water?” Connie blinked. 

“Not salt water,” Moblit supplied, looking at Levi who was muttering “bad water” under his breath. 

Footsteps clattered through the halls as people left the building, heading outside for what they thought was a false alarm, but would soon realize was a real fire, especially since smoke was building up in the room. 

Although they were stronger in numbers, they decided to split up; Hange, Moblit, and Levi would look for Erwin while Jean, Connie, and Sasha searched for Marco. In the chaos, Hange was confident that they could locate the main breaker and shut it off, which would cause even further chaos and disable the security cameras, allowing them more time to rescue their loved ones. 

Holding their collective breath, Hange cracked open the door to find the hallway more wet but just as deserted as before, except this time all the doors were open, their occupants probably outside waiting on the fire department. 

Right before they left, Sasha stuffed a towel they brought with them around the sprinkler, then kicked over the burning trashcan, setting the rest of the room on fire. 

They split at the end of the hallway without a word, Hange heading toward the basement, Levi and Moblit following behind. Moblit gritted his teeth as someone in a white coat ran past them, but the scrubs they wore seemed to make them invisible, for no one gave them the time of day. This was going a little too well. If the place was guarded then where were the rest of the guards? 

Finding a stairwell in another hallway, Hange used to keycard to access it and they descended, no longer being rained on since the fire hadn’t spread far enough yet, arriving to a large metal door at the very bottom. Levi’s legs seemed to give out on the last few stairs and he fell to his knees hard, bracing himself on his hands. 

Moblit grasped his arm to help, trying not to cringe at how Levi’s skin was flaking off in sheets, his sodden clothes showing the raw irritation beneath. He was probably in tremendous pain, so when he hissed at Moblit, baring his teeth, Moblit didn’t take it personally. This entire thing was beyond tense, so he just raised both hands and walked backward toward the door, letting Levi struggle to his feet. 

This time Hange’s keycard didn’t beep when they swiped it, it buzzed harshly, making Moblit wince. Hange tried it three more times before cursing and turning to Levi. 

“Can you open this?” they asked cautiously, knowing that Levi had little to no strength left. 

Breathing out hard through his nose, Levi took one rickety step, then another, and another, until he was in front of the door. Bowing his head, he seemed to collect himself for a few seconds before reaching out and grasping the handle, which was more like a lever, and pushing down. It resisted him but, with a grunt on Levi’s part, something inside of it snapped and it swung south, the door opening a few inches with a large metallic creak. 

Using force knocked Levi even further off-kilter but he kept himself upright, blinking a few times and taking deep gulps of air. Never before had Moblit felt such urgency, it gave him an extra dose of bravery and he put an arm out in front of Hange, keeping them back as he peered inside the room. 

No one. The lack of people made Moblit uneasy. They’d only passed a few so far and all of them had been in white coats. But why all the guards outside and none inside? It didn’t make sense. 

Hange peered around him. 

“Jackpot!” they said, brushing back a strand of wet hair. “I’m glad they didn’t change the location of the main service breaker.” 

“I don’t feel good about this,” Moblit stated, doing another quick sweep with his eyes before entering the large cement-walled room full of wiring, multi-colored bundles of cables streaming away from various panels, running along the ceiling and into the walls, a visual representation of the electricity they were about to cut. 

Hange quickly rushed to the largest panel, a huge grey monstrosity mounted to the right of the door. It was lined with switches and Hange began turning them off, several at a time. 

“I know,” they replied, right on track with Moblit. “I expected to see a lot more people than we have and the ones we passed are lab rats, scientists, like us. I don’t think this is a _military_   facility, Moblit. I think it’s a research facility and the military is just guarding it.” 

Moblit nodded, eyeing Levi, who was sitting on the floor, back against the wall, hand on his chest as he wheezed heavily. “But if they’re guarding it then where are the guards?” 

Hange flicked the last few switches down and the lights in their room dimmed, a few small emergency lights flaring to life around them, giving them just enough to see each other. 

“I’ll bet my life,” they said, looking to where Levi sat, gasping for air, a fearsomely angry expression on his face, “that they’re with Erwin.” 

********** 

The trip back up the stairs was longer and more painful than the trip down. Levi was beginning to fail by the second flight and despite his hissing and the threat of violence in his eyes, he eventually allowed Hange and Moblit to sling his arms over their shoulders, keeping him between them. Progress was slow, for Levi felt like he was made of lead, all of his two hundred and sixty pounds apparent as they practically dragged him to the top floor, where he said he could feel Erwin. 

The emergency lights kept the entire building in intermittent darkness and Moblit knew they only had so much time before those in charge realized that the power was not out because of the fire but because a team of fishermen and marine biologists had broken in to steal their merman. Worse case scenario was that they already knew and Moblit hoped against hope that they didn’t. 

Fortunately, the entry panels were hooked up to some kind of auxiliary power so, when they reached the landing, Moblit had Hange run the keycard again and a few anxious seconds passed before the door unlocked with a click. Opening it a sliver, Moblit peered through. The lighting didn’t tell him much, especially since it was fading in and out, occasionally leaving them in darkness, but he could tell that this hallway was very different than the one they’d started off in. It was small, narrow, bending off at a right angle in the distance and no doors lined it; instead, it seemed to surround a huge room in the center that looked like it took up most of the floor. Large windows were placed at waist height along the length of the room, reaching almost to the ceiling, and Moblit realized that they were probably for observation, to study whatever was inside. 

“Anyone?” Hange asked, close to his ear. Moblit shook his head once, squinting. There was no movement in the hall but he couldn’t see through the windows from their position on the stairwell, and the coming and going light didn't help. 

“Er-win he-ere,” Levi’s voice was weak, too weak, and his eyes weren’t silver anymore; they'd lost their luster and had sunk to a cold stony grey that made chills run up Moblit’s spine. 

“Fuck this,” Hange said, opening the door a little more. Crouching down, they took a look to either side and then shuffled down the hall in a crablike crouch, staying close to the floor. Moblit followed, mimicking them, looking over his shoulder to see Levi crawling jerkily on all fours behind him, his wheeze like a death rattle. They all stopped against the wall right below the windows and, after another cautious look around, Hange poked their head up, peering through the glass at whatever was inside. 

Their mouth dropped open and the fact that they didn’t say anything shook Moblit to the bone, so he took his own look. 

And his mouth dropped open too. 

Even with the sporadic darkness Moblit could see that the room inside was enormous, possibly stretching the length of the building. White tile that looked bleak in the varying backup lights covered everything but the ceiling; one wall was lined with large pipes that Moblit guessed were used to transfer water while various computers and monitors took up another wall, paperwork scattered about on the desks in front of them. To the right lay a long metal table surrounded by the kinds of equipment that only meant one thing: experimentation, and their presence made Moblit nauseous, but what caught his full attention was the gigantic tank at the far end. 

The one that held a very large merman. 

He was floating face down near the top of the tank, and Moblit could tell his tail had once been a shimmering blue-green but had since faded, its scales flaking away like Levi's skin, piling up in a corner. He was easily one and a half times Levi's size, the length of the tank barely holding him, and although his arms drifted limply at his sides his broad shoulders and dense muscles spoke of great strength. Fins spiked down his back in a similar color to his tail, and his skin was light blue, darker at his waist but paling as it went north, his head crowned with blond hair that streamed around him like a halo. 

And he was still, so very still. 

Moblit heard a growl and snapped his head to his right, where Levi trembled in rage. Despite his weakness, fury poured off him, practically filling the small hallway as he looked through the window at his mate. 

Erwin. The one Levi walked on land for, the one whom he risked death to find. 

Moblit just hoped it wasn't too late. 

Levi began to stand, looking like he was going to punch through the window when Hange reached over, yanking him down by his still sodden shirt. 

"You can't just go in there, did you see all the guys with guns?" Their hypothesis in the basement was right. All of the military in the building were gathered in that one room, standing watch at various points, their weapons ready. A number of scientists were also present, one of them heading toward Erwin's tank with a syringe in hand. 

Levi growled again. 

" _Now,_ " he insisted, his voice rough and weary. 

Both Hange and Moblit's phones took that precise moment to vibrate. Moblit reached for his, hoping that Hange could keep Levi calm enough so that they could figure out their next move. 

"Yeah?" he whispered into the phone as he peered over the edge of the glass again, watching. 

"It's Connie. We found Marco!" Moblit could hear the exuberance in his voice. "He was way on the other side of the building in some medical area. They stitched him up and he’s fine but he's been sedated. There was no one around so we snuck in and grabbed him, Jean's carrying him out right now." Connie took a breath. "Did you guys find the mermaid?" 

Moblit didn't have the heart to correct him. "Yeah, we did, but we hit a snag." He winced at Levi's expression as the scientist climbed a stepladder near the tank, squirting some kind of liquid out of the needle, testing it. 

"Well, get him and get out of here. You know that fire we set? It's spreading." 

Moblit felt his stomach twist again. Now they could add arson to their list of crimes. They only intended to cause a distraction, not set the entire building ablaze. 

However, considering what was going on in that room right now, and what had probably been done in the past, maybe this building needed to be razed to the ground. 

"Moblit," Hange said, louder than he would've liked. He was so focused on the phone call that he didn't notice they had company until he heard the click of a gun. Then whoever had joined them had his full attention. 

Turning his gaze from the window to the hall, he squinted through the dimming lights. When they came back up, he dropped his cell, hearing Connie scream on the tinny speaker as he stared at two men in full military gear standing beside him, weapons aimed and ready. 

Their luck had just run out. 

“Looks like we've got three of the intruders right outside the tank room. Two med techs and a civilian,” one of them radioed in, staying steady on the trigger. 

“Hey, wait a minute, we’re just lost,” Hange tried, but they were having none of that. 

“Shut the fuck up!” the other yelled, flipping his gun around and smacking Hange across the face with the back end of it. They slumped sideways, instantly unconscious, and Moblit cried out, his fists clenched, his blood running cold. He rose to his knees, attempting to get to Hange but the same man took a step forward, turning the gun back to the more dangerous end and pressing it to the center of Moblit’s forehead. 

“Try it, asshole,” he grit out. “Try anything.” 

Moblit didn’t know what to do. He felt fear, true fear, claw its way through him, blanking his mind. They all knew going into this that it might not end well and were willing to take that risk, but when the risk manifested he realized that he was unprepared for the reality that he and Hange were going to die. That they weren’t going to free Erwin. That Levi had done all of this for nothing. 

It made him angry. So very angry. And he steeled himself, curling his hand to smack the gun away, not about to go down without a fight. 

But a bullet didn't rip through him, a scream did. 

A high-pitched, continuous keen rang through the hallway, unlike anything Moblit had heard before. It reminded him of the cry of a trapped animal, the sound a whirl of frustration, ferocity and grief. It was like the antithesis of the song, winding around Moblit’s heart and head and squeezing, carrying him along with its rage and despair. 

It was a call, a sword, a spear, and the guards immediately dropped their guns, clamping their hands over their ears as their knees buckled and their eyes rolled up, both of them falling unconscious, and Moblit dove forward, covering Hange with his body as the windows behind them shattered. 

Shards rained on his back as the cry slowly diminished and he turned just in time to see Levi close his mouth and bonelessly crumple to the floor, the last of his strength gone. 

“Levi!” he shouted, when an answering screech came from inside the room, a bloodcurdling scream quickly following. 

Moblit jerked, his eyes wide. Glass slid from his back as he sat up, cautiously peeking over the jagged edges left in the window, and froze. 

The water in the giant tank was now red. Bright red. And instead of a merman floating inside, the scientist with the syringe was now in his place, their neck and arm at an unnatural angle, their eyes wide and sightless, the needle sticking out of the back of their head. 

Gunshots fired, and both the guards and the scientists ran about the room, their voices rising in a cacophony of terror. Moblit squinted, trying to see through the chaos, and heard the slide of something wet. The room went dark, the emergency lights fading out, and he could make out individual pleas for mercy, each one of them going silent with a sickening crack, the bullets stopping nothing, one of them whizzing past Moblit’s head, embedding itself in the wall behind him. 

When the lights came up again, bodies were scattered across the floor, all of them twisted just like the one in the tank. The few people that were left pressed against the door but the panel had been ripped off, somehow locking them in. One scientist was desperately trying to tie the wires that hung loose with shaking hands while the rest shouted at him, looking around in sheer panic, none of them, not even the guards, able to see Erwin. 

It was terrifying. When Moblit first saw Erwin, he'd seemed as close to death as Levi, but when Levi cried out Erwin had not only escaped the tank within seconds, he had effectively locked his captors in and was picking them off, one by one. If he was even half as strong and intelligent as Levi then he was very _very_   dangerous. Those people in there didn’t stand a chance. They couldn’t even find him, Moblit couldn’t even find him, and he grit his teeth, still frozen in horror as the lights dimmed again. 

More gunshots, more screams, and Moblit finally snapped into motion, turning away from the window and gathering Hange in his trembling arms, not wanting to hear the snap of bones, the splatter of blood, and the shrieks of people being sent to their deaths anymore. He knew he’d never forget the sounds, they would ring inside of him for the rest of his life, along with Levi’s song. 

Levi. 

It had all happened so fast that Moblit hadn’t had a chance to check the merman, look for signs of life. 

The lights came back up. 

And Moblit caught his breath, tightening his hold on Hange. 

For Erwin stood in front of him. 

Moblit thought he’d felt true fear before, when the guard had a gun pointed to his head, but that was nothing compared to having a murderous merman standing over him. 

Erwin was close to seven feet tall, every inch of that height regal and imposing. He stood like his legs weren’t new, like he used them all the time, and his muscles rippled with tension and aggression, his thighs tensed and ready to pounce, his chest expanding with each odd and new breath, his biceps flexing as he curled and uncurled his bloodstained fists. His skin was just as luminous as Levi’s was when they first found him on the road and, like Levi, Erwin’s eyes were glowing in the low light, except his were a brilliant blue, like the ocean that reflects the sky, like the sea from space. And they were deep, knowledgeable, and _angry_. 

“Wait!” Moblit squeaked out, putting Hange behind him. “We’ve been helping Levi. Please-” 

But his words fell on deaf ears. In a flash, Erwin was kneeling before him, his face inches away, and Moblit could feel how inhuman he was. It rolled off him in his gaze and his carriage. It was in the way he reached out, fluid, graceful, like he was still underwater. 

It was in the way he grasped Moblit’s neck, firm, strong, as if he could snap it like a twig. 

Erwin's fingers tightened and Moblit choked, clawing at the steel hand around his throat, unable to move it at all. He knew he only had seconds and his last thought was of Hange, who, if they woke up, would find him dead. 

The thought made his heart twist in his chest. 

His vision started to blur and he tried to talk, tried to tell Erwin that he was killing a friend, not a foe. Tried to plea for his life like all of the dead in the next room. 

Out of the corner of his eye Moblit saw a hand clasp around Erwin's ankle, a shaky hand with skin peeling off the fingers. 

"N-No, Er-win," came Levi's voice. " _Friend._ " 

And suddenly Moblit was set free, falling back on top of Hange as he gasped for air. Black spots danced in his vision and he massaged his neck, waiting for the world to straighten out. 

When it finally tilted back the right way, he found Erwin still in front of him, cradling Levi in his arms. The look on Erwin's face was one of pure love, his eyes showing only reverence, but there was a pinch of worry between his thick brows. Lying prone in his mate's arms, Levi wheezed again through chapped lips that held a small smile. 

"Er-win," he rasped, trying to reach up and touch Erwin's cheek but he was too weak, his hand shaking and falling back toward the floor. Erwin grasped it before it fell, kissing the back of it then bringing it to his chest. 

The gesture was so gentle that if his hand wasn't covered in blood Moblit would doubt that Erwin was capable of violence. But he’d seen it with his own eyes, as well as the tank and the table and the tools around it and, to be honest, he really couldn't blame Erwin. Hange and Moblit ran the Marine Center to care for the creatures of the sea, not to harm them, and research didn't mean experimentation. It didn't mean killing something beautiful and alien to gain knowledge, to take something that lived and breathed and _felt_ and destroy it. The whole idea made Moblit sick. 

Levi coughed, the sound thin and reedy, and his body jerked in Erwin's arms. Rising to his feet and holding Levi like he was made of paper, Erwin looked down at Moblit imperiously, saying one word. 

"Water." And it was like he'd spoken their language all his life. He didn't have the hesitance Levi did, the faint alien accent, but it rolled off his tongue like music and Moblit distantly wondered what Erwin’s song was like. 

Hange stirred behind him and Moblit almost cried in relief. Blinking a few times, they groaned, putting a hand to their head, and Moblit helped them sit up with just as much gentleness as Erwin held Levi. 

"That jerk!" Hange mumbled, looking at their fingers, which came away with blood on them. Moblit would have to have them checked for a concussion once this was over. "What happened? Moblit? Did you - _holy fucking shit!_ " 

Hange grasped Moblit's arm so hard he was sure he had a bone bruise. 

"Hange, this is Erwin," he wanted to swing a hand toward the towering merman but Hange still held him in a death grip. "And we need to get Levi to the ocean right now." 

"Of course," they said, their eyes never leaving Erwin's, both of them studying each other with equal interest. "Wow...he's magnificent," they breathed out as Moblit helped them stand. 

The door to the stairwell banged open, slamming hard against the opposite wall, and they all tensed, Erwin turning with a hiss, tightening his hold on Levi as footsteps rang into the hall. 

"Moblit? Hange?" Moblit had never been so glad to hear Connie's voice in his entire life. "Are you guys oka-" Connie lapsed into silence, pinwheeling his arms as he stopped short in front of Erwin, Sasha almost slamming into the back of him. 

“ _You_ ,” Erwin said, the word all threat. Erwin had run into Connie before, when he was caught on their ship, and that meeting did not go well. 

"I know what you’re thinking but they’re friends too,” Moblit stated. “Really. They helped us with this whole plan to get you out.” 

Erwin stared hard at Connie and stopped hissing but didn't relax his stance. 

"Uhhhhhh," Connie took an involuntary step back into Sasha. "You're a big guy, aren't you?" 

"Really big," Sasha stated, her head poking out from behind Connie's shoulder as she eyed Erwin's penis, which was just as impressive as Levi's and hung halfway to his knees. 

Connie coughed, "Listen. It's chaos downstairs and this is the only stairwell not full of smoke. We need to leave." 

"Where's Jean?" Moblit asked, steadying Hange as they swayed on their feet. 

"He got to the van with Marco and drove it back here. He's outside waiting, said there's no one at the gate anymore since there's fire trucks and people all over the parking lot. The guards are pretty busy." 

"We should be able to slip out then," Hange stated, still leaning heavily on Moblit. "But Erwin can't just walk out of here naked. Someone will notice that." 

Erwin growled, eyes full of impatience. Levi's head was lolling and his skin was turning grey, they didn't have time for dress up. 

"Wait," Moblit said, looking toward the inside room, trying to ignore the carnage, and Hange followed his gaze, choking on a gasp. 

"Did..." Connie asked, looking through the shattered windows as well. "Did he do all of that?" 

"Yes," Erwin stated firmly, making all of them jump, his eyes holding much more than that single word. 

Bracing Hange against the wall, Moblit used the distraction to vault through the window into the room, heading toward one of the larger scientists. Gritting his teeth, he held back bile as he stripped the nameless dead man of his long white coat, the smell of blood strong as he worked the man's limp limbs through the sleeves. When it finally came free he tossed it back into the hall, quickly following then becoming Hange’s crutch again. 

Erwin was reluctant to put Levi down but he seemed to understand the need for the coat, his lip curling as if he were donning the skin of his enemy. It stopped a few inches below his ass, covering him just enough to escape, but his arms pressed the seams to the max, the material straining as he picked up Levi once more, holding him close. 

Moblit eyed the guards who'd assaulted them. Both were still unconscious, with thin streams of blood running from their ears that formed small red pools on the floor. It seemed that Levi could target his cry and if he hadn't used that last bit of strength to save them and call out to Erwin then they'd either be dead or held in some place that no one would ever find. 

Moblit couldn't wake them up. He couldn't risk them trying to subjugate Erwin again. He couldn't risk Levi's life. And no matter what he wanted, he couldn't rescue everyone, so he pushed aside his guilt about leaving them behind. 

"Ready?" Connie asked, gun in hand as he kicked open the stairwell door like he was in an action movie. It was then that Moblit noticed Sasha had a gun too. 

"Where did you get that?" he asked, wondering if she'd snatched it from the guards when he wasn't looking. 

"It’s mine,” Sasha stated, continuing to blatantly ogle Erwin as if he were a piece of meat. “I got a two-for-one deal when I bought Connie’s” 

“And why _are_ you up here?” Hange asked, letting Moblit assist them down the stairs. Connie and Sasha were in the lead, Erwin and Levi behind them, Moblit and Hange bringing up the rear. Moblit could smell the fire in the distance, as if death was on their heels, and he hoped they wouldn’t come this far only to lose so close to the end. 

“I heard those two dickweeds threatening you when you dropped the phone. I figured if they were going to shoot you guys then I was going to shoot them,’ Connie shrugged. Moblit wished he was closer so he could clap the man on the shoulder in appreciation but Hange took the reigns. 

“Connie you’re a badass!” they gushed, stumbling a bit in their appreciation, but Moblit held them steady. “By the way, Moblit? I grabbed your phone off the floor. I didn’t think it was a good thing to leave anything behind but carnage.” 

Moblit gave a shallow laugh, not wanting to hear or think about the word carnage ever again. He flicked his gaze to Erwin, who walked seamlessly behind Connie and Sasha, carrying Levi without jostling him at all, his footsteps balletic, elegant despite the situation at hand. 

They reached the bottom floor without incident and although the hallway beyond was half-filled with smoke, they made a dash for the door, stumbling out into the night. Since the fire was on the other side of the building there weren’t that many people milling about, and they darted across the parking lot, piling into the van that sat waiting for them. 

“Where to?” Jean asked, his eyes almost falling out of his head when he saw Erwin, who eyed him with suspicion. Although the crew of _The 104_   were there to help, they had caused the entire ordeal and Moblit knew that Erwin was having a hard time trusting them. 

“The Center?” Hange volunteered. “It’s all woods around here, and the Center is the first place on the ocean once you hit town. It's closed now so there should be no one around, but...” they looked at Levi, who was now unconscious, the breaths he took too far apart, as if each one could be his last, “it’s ten minutes away.” 

The worry between Erwin’s brows was now written across his face. 

“Levi does not have ten minutes,” Erwin stated, his low rumbling voice laced with pain  and urgency. In some distant part of his brain, Moblit marveled at how fluent he was. 

Connie yanked Jean out of the driver’s seat, throwing him in the back toward Marco, who lay across one of the seats, still out cold. 

“Everyone hang onto something,” Connie said, slamming a foot down on the gas pedal. “I’ll get us there in five.” 

********** 

The van skidded to a screeching halt outside the Marine Center, Connie making it there so fast that Moblit’s heart was in his mouth. Without a second to lose, Jean tossed open the van doors and Erwin leapt out, running toward the pier as Levi twitched in his arms, seizing in the throes of death. During the ride Erwin had pressed his forehead to Levi’s and stayed like that, holding him steady as the vehicle twisted and turned on the back roads, the slight tremor in his lips the only thing that betrayed how scared he was.  

Grabbing Hange, Moblit helped them out of the van, trying to follow Erwin, but Hange was reduced to a limping stride and they looked quite pale; he would definitely have them checked for a concussion after this was over and then he’d buy several six packs and digest all that had happened before the feds, or the police, or the secret military whatever kicked down their door and took them away. 

Erwin stopped at the end of the pier, kneeling down. Moblit could hear the seal pups going crazy, their whines echoing through the night, and he was glad they were secured on the inside of the facility. 

Shucking off the white coat, Erwin fisted Levi's still-wet shirt in both hands, ripping it from his body like it was made of tissue and then doing the same with his pants. Moblit realized that they probably couldn't enter the water with clothes, it would hamper the transformation.  

But then he also realized that Levi had stopped seizing. It was a long slow moment where his body went still, more still than Erwin was in the tank, and Moblit’s heart plummeted. 

"No," Moblit heard as they approached, Hange breaking out into a run despite their injuries, the rest of the team's footsteps pounding on the pier behind them. 

"Levi!" Erwin lay his head on Levi's chest, listening, and then moved it to his forehead, then back to his chest. "Levi!" 

"Get him into the water!" Hange screamed, stumbling to a halt in front of them. "I don't care if he's not breathing on land! It's not too late, GO NOW." 

Erwin tightened his lips and, with a nod, gathered Levi into his arms once more and jumped off the end of the pier. It wasn't like he dove into the water, it was like the ocean parted for him and let him slip through. No splash heaved up to wet them, and as the ripples settled, everyone just sat there and stared at the spot where the mermen disappeared.

It was too quiet. 

"Come on..." Hange said, holding onto Moblit tightly. 

A cry shot through the bay and they all jumped. It was defintely not a noise that Moblit recognized and he wondered if it was made in anguish or joy. Was it was a sound of transformation...or of mourning? 

A moment later a second cry rang out, in a different pitch than the first but this one... 

This one was familiar.

It sounded like Levi. 

Did it work? Did the whole search and rescue mission actually work? Did they help the merman save his mate before they both died? Was this whole thing really a success? 

"There!" Sasha pointed several yards out, where a large tail rose from the water in salute, a smaller tail popping out of the water beside it. In the moonlight, the expansive fins looked silver, almost angelic, and they disappeared just as quickly as they came. 

"Would you look at that..." Hange sniffed and Moblit saw tears on their face. His own cheeks were wet and he quickly wiped them, smiling from ear to ear. 

Erwin and Levi were finally heading home. 

********** 

Three weeks passed. The first few days were filled with anxiety and adrenaline, Moblit feeling the victory but worrying about the consequences. The research facility had burned to the ground and local news barely covered the 'warehouse fire', all they reported was that the building was abandoned and there were no casualties, so he knew there was a cover-up somewhere. Moblit hazarded a guess that while the research done there was backed up offsite, the security cameras were not, and whatever was captured of them before the power cut had probably been burned away in the fire. Or maybe those in charge were just biding their time. Whatever it was, Moblit had no regrets; he'd do it again if asked although next time he’d borrow a gun from Connie. 

After the whole ordeal Jean declared that he was done fishing and needed a break. Marco had recovered wonderfully but didn't remember a thing, not even the day he was taken, yet he agreed with Jean that time away was needed and the two of them found work on a farm nearby. 

Connie and Sasha decided to remain on _The 104_ , taking on new crew and preparing different routes away from the area where Erwin was caught. Unfazed, they carried on as if what they'd done was like a monthly game night and when they stopped by the Center Moblit had to remind them not to brag about it to anyone. 

Hange did have a concussion. Being knocked unconscious tended to do that to a person. This wasn’t fiction, where a blow to the head was something a person bounced back from, and it took almost a fortnight for Hange to feel like their old self. They drove Moblit nuts the entire time, not taking well to being cooped up in the house on brain rest, unable to work on their projects. 

And they hadn't heard a thing from Erwin and Levi. Not that Moblit expected to. Both of them had gotten caught straying too close to humans, and Levi took an enormous risk trying to find his mate. This time, Erwin's curiosity almost got them killed and they would probably never walk on land again. If there hadn't been pictures of a merman tail, a slide of its dust under Hange's microscope, and a heap of ash where a research facility once sat, then it would've been like the whole thing didn’t happen. 

But Moblit remembered. And he still heard the song, lilting in the back of his mind, along with the sounds of necks snapping and Erwin's liquid voice. 

"Sir? Should I close up now?" Petra asked, keys jangling in her hand. Moblit had hired her while Hange was recovering and he'd never had a better intern. She cared deeply for all the creatures that she tended to and even kept Oluo in line. He could’ve used her when they freed Erwin. 

"I told you, Petra, you don't have to call me sir, Moblit is just fine. And why don't you take off?" He stretched, hearing his spine crack. "I have some paperwork to finish up and I'm sure Hange is around somewhere." 

"They're on the pier with the pups," Petra stated, although the seals had grown so much in the last few weeks that they were hardly pups anymore. "She said they're acting up again." 

"When are they not?" Moblit chuckled. "Have a good night, Petra." 

"You too, _sir_ ," she replied cheekily, closing the door behind her. 

Cracking his neck, Moblit returned to the budget, thinking about getting himself a more comfortable chair. He didn't know how long he sat there staring at numbers before Hange interrupted him with a loud squeal from outside. He was used to them randomly crying out but this time there was an edge to it that made him look up. 

Another cry followed, except this one wasn't Hange's. It was alien, ringing of pain and echoing in just the right way. Resonating, like a song. 

And Moblit knew exactly where it came from. 

Jumping out of his chair so hard it spun, he dashed from his office through the Marine Center, practically a blur as he passed a small lab, food and medical storage, an education center, which had desks arranged around a small platform so visiting schools could get a lesson on the creatures of the ocean, and a room at the rear of the building that had an indoor pool filled with ocean water which came in through a regulated hatch. The seal pups used that hatch during the day and were usually locked in the facility at night for their safety. But they weren't in there now. And he had an inkling why. 

A second cry rang out as Moblit tore open the door next to the pool and ran outside, feet pounding on the short walkway that joined the pier. 

Then he stopped, breathing hard and wishing he had something to hold onto, for Erwin stood on the end of the pier, helping Levi onto newly-formed feet as his tail seemed to peel away from him, landing right beside Erwin’s in a shimmer of blue-green that put the prettiest fish to shame. 

Both of them were as naked as newborns and even though Erwin wore a smile he was still quite intimidating, larger than most humans and carrying far too much muscle. It was like he’d been sculpted, modeled after a Greek god, and the way he stood, his energy, his bearing, was definitely alien. But Moblit was used to it from the time he’d spent with Levi so it didn’t rattle him too much. 

He was more focused on Levi, who looked just as he did the night they found him on the road. His skin was whole, his breathing even, and although he wore something akin to a scowl there was a peace about him that Moblit hadn’t seen before, a softening of his eyes that hinted at tranquility, probably caused by Erwin not being in grave danger. 

“They came back!” Hange shouted, jumping up and down, making a scene. “They scared the shit out of me and the pups took off, but they came back!” 

“I am sorry,” Erwin tilted his head in a semblance of a bow. “We returned to say thank you.” His fluency was astounding, his voice still low and rumbling but musical, melodic. Levi watched, a silent sentry beside him, as if he would never let Erwin out of his sight again. 

“Um, don’t apologize. You just gave me the best gift of all! I got to watch you shift!” Hange waved their hands in the air, unable to cope with all the new information. “Moblit it was wonderful, I’ve never seen anything like it before, their skin changed, their fins folded in and their tails just pulled away from their legs, but it looked painful really painful-” 

“Maybe we should take this inside?" Moblit said, glancing around. Thankfully it was after dark and Moblit’s truck was the only vehicle in the parking lot, but if an idle beach walker came round the bend they would easily see Erwin standing there like a beacon of gold and skin. 

"Yes, yes!" Hange agreed. "Why don't you stay for dinner? We just got a shipment of mackerel and I know Levi loves that!" They winked and Levi let out a small tsk, crossing his arms, but color rose on his cheeks and he was almost cute. For a second, Moblit forgot that he was a dangerous creature of the sea. 

Quickly ushering them inside, Moblit had them wait in the room with the pool, finding chairs and then scurrying around to make sure the place was locked up. Hange brought the tails in from the pier, handling them carefully and securing them in a special cabinet that was theirs and theirs alone, for careful study later. 

Grabbing a table from the education center, he placed it in front of the very naked mermen, and Hange dumped quite a bit of fish in its center. Not only did they grab the fresh mackerel, but there was also salmon, whitefish, and trout; a veritable merman feast. 

"You are very generous," Erwin stated, both of them reaching for a fish. While Levi dug into his mackerel with relish, Erwin took a moment before eating. "As I said earlier, we came to thank you and your group for our rescue-" 

"You don’t have to thank us,” Moblit said, settling in a chair opposite them. Hange practically bounced in theirs, studying Erwin. “I’m just glad that you’re both okay, especially Levi.” 

"Can I ask you some questions?" Hange bubbled over. 

"Of course," Erwin said, politely taking a bite from the center of the salmon he held. His teeth were large and pointed, more deadly-looking than Levi's, like they could tear through concrete. 

"How do you speak our language so well? Can you read too? And sing? What does your song sound like? How come I've never seen a merman on land before? Where do all of you live? How did they manage to keep you in that tank, you're so big? Are there other mermen as big as you? How much do you weigh? Do you get along with sharks-" 

"Breathe, Hange, breathe," Moblit laughed, noting how Erwin's eyebrows rose higher and higher with each question, until they were _very_   far up on his forehead. Levi had spent more than a day with Hange and endured their continuous questions so he took the entire thing in stride, averting his eyes and reaching for a second mackerel, finishing the first in record time. 

"I have always been interested in language,” Erwin explained. “I know many ocean dialects and several human ones. Levi is a fighter, not a linguist, but his time spent on land has shown him the importance of such knowledge.” 

Levi snorted, wiping the corners of his mouth and reaching for a third fish, a trout this time, munching on the tail. 

“I can read all of the languages that I speak,” Erwin continued after an affectionate glance at his mate, “And my song is…different.” 

“Different how?” Hange had their elbows on the table, chin in both hands, enraptured. 

Levi snorted again. “If Erwin sings, this building will not stand.” 

Moblit jolted in his seat, glad that it was Levi who came to land looking for Erwin and not the other way around. He was also glad that Levi was with them at the warehouse or they might all be buried in rubble right now. 

“You heard his song, yes?” Erwin looked at Moblit and he nodded, hesitantly. “It is quite beautiful.” 

Levi huffed, his cheeks coloring again. Moblit wondered if he blushed this much as a merman or if it was just an acquired human trait. 

“As to your other questions, there are many merpeople about you living as humans. They have learned human ways, how to lengthen their time on land. But once they choose that life they are not able to return to our home.” 

“Really?” Hange gasped. “How many?” 

“Many,” Levi said, in the same devious way he did at their cottage, with a smile that showed too much teeth. It made Moblit shiver. 

“I cannot tell you where our home is but it is in a place that no human can reach,” Erwin tilted his head in amusement. “And if you think I am, as you say, _big_ , then you should see our Queen. However, the strength of a merman is not measured by size but by heart.” With that, Erwin’s eyes drifted to Levi and there was so much love in them that Moblit choked up a little, for it reminded him of a look he often gave Hange. Instead of scoffing or snorting, Levi returned Erwin’s gaze with a small half smile and they laced their fingers together, resting their hands on the table. 

“The capture was my fault and I am grateful every day that Levi never gave up on me. I do not know what poison I was given in that _prison_ ,” Erwin practically spit the word, “but the time I spent there is not clear in my mind. It was Levi’s call that woke me, and I must apologize for attacking you, I was confused and did not know enemy from friend.” 

“It’s all in the past,” Moblit waved the words away, even though he did have large finger-shaped bruises on his throat for two weeks and had to find a few high-collared shirts to wear to work until they faded. 

“As for sharks,” Erwin tilted his lips in what could only be a smirk. “They are quite troublesome beasts-” 

“You are a troublesome beast,” Levi declared, letting go of Erwin’s hand and reaching for a fourth fish. 

“Would it be okay if I weighed you?” Hange asked, shameless as always. 

********** 

“I am afraid we must go,” Erwin stated, stepping off the large animal scale they used for visiting walrus. “I am under watch for my indiscretions and must return home.” 

Levi folded his arms. “He means we left without permission. _Again_.” 

“We will be home before they notice we are gone,” Erwin approached Levi, bending down to place his forehead against his mate's. It seemed to melt any surliness from Levi’s bones and Moblit could tell that Erwin had Levi wrapped around his finger. Or fin. Or whatever. 

“Four hundred and seventeen pounds,” Hange breathed, quickly jotting notes in a pad they found when they dragged out the scale. “If you ever want to come back I’d love to study you some more. In a completely safe way, of course.” 

Erwin straightened, his lips tightening. “Unfortunately, this must be goodbye. I do not think I will be permitted to return here in your lifetime.” 

“My lifetime?” Hange echoed. “How old _are_ you?” 

“Old,” Levi stated flatly, although his expression said he was taunting Erwin, just a little. Turning to Moblit and Hange, who was busy scribbling more notes, Levi put a hand over his heart. “Thank you for helping me. You and your group are brave. I will not forget you.” 

Erwin placed a large palm on Levi’s back. “Nor will I. You are true friends of the ocean.” 

“Awwwww, I’m gonna miss you guys!” Hange cried out, and Moblit held them back as they tried to jump forward and hug the mermen. 

“Safe travels,” Moblit said with a smile, wanting to wave, or do something, but he couldn’t with both of his arms around Hange. 

After checking the surrounding area for spying eyes, Erwin and Levi left the Center, walking out onto the pier, which creaked under Erwin's weight. Once they reached the end, they cast a final look over their shoulders to smile at Moblit and Hange, who stood by the door, then they dove seamlessly into the ocean, side by side, leaving barely a ripple behind. 

“The cameras!” Hange exclaimed, once they were gone. “Remember? I had the underwater cameras set up this week so we could watch the pups! We might be able to see them swim off!” They scrambled inside, leaving Moblit alone, and he heard the distant cries of transformation before he turned to follow them. 

Grabbing one of the chairs from the pool room, he carried it to the lab, where Hange was typing furiously on a large desktop computer that hummed by their feet, another one of Moblit's creations. A few screens flared to life on their right, the cameras’ night vision in full effect, showing green water lit by moonlight at the top, then growing darker and impenetrable toward the bottom. The picture was sharper than Moblit expected when he okayed the project and he squinted, seeing something with a very large tail dart by the lens. 

“I think that’s them!” Hange typed something else and the angle widened. Sure enough, two mermen appeared and Moblit pressed closer to the monitor, enraptured. 

Both of them were in full form, darting around each other like they were playing. Levi was smaller but quicker, circling Erwin with ease, his tail a thing of beauty, glittering even in the low light. Although the green sheen from the camera didn't allow Moblit to properly see their skin, he guessed from the shading that it was the same striking fade of blue he’d seen on Erwin at the research facility. Long translucent fins adorned the sides of their faces in place of ears, making their profiles more angular and alien, and their eyes glowed like beacons, like wildlife caught in oncoming headlights. 

A trio of gills ran down both sides of their necks, pulsing as the two swirled around each other, complimenting the arch of spiky fins that cascaded down their spines; of course, Erwin's spikes were longer and more pronounced, and as he reached out to try and catch Levi, Moblit could also see webbing between his fingers. 

Hange let out a low whistle, switching to another camera as the mermen danced out of range. Levi seemed to taunt Erwin, coming close but quickly flipping away, somersaulting in the water but, with a feint that Moblit almost couldn’t follow, Erwin managed to catch his mate, although by Levi’s sultry smirk, it looked like he allowed himself to be caught. 

They pressed their foreheads together, deeply affectionate, then Erwin broke away to rub his cheek along Levi’s, his hands beginning to wander. 

“Uhhh, Hange we probably shouldn’t be watching this-” Moblit stuttered, blushing as Levi’s head fell back, his mouth opening. 

“Shhhh, it’s for science,” Hange replied, staring holes into the monitor. 

Moblit looked away, studying the floor and thinking about how glad he was that he didn’t spend extra cash on underwater cameras with microphones, until Hange gasped and, without thinking, he glanced back up. 

“Ohmygod,” his eyes widened. “Is that..?” 

“Yeah.” Hange was breathless. “It’s the same as when he was human although I don’t know where he was keeping it. It’s almost...prehensile.” 

With both hands on Levi’s hips, right at the start of his tail, Erwin secured his mate, slowly entering him from behind. Arched in a solid curve, Levi’s webbed fingers reached back, tangling in Erwin’s hair, and Moblit could almost hear his cry as Erwin fully seated himself. Many inappropriate questions raced through Moblit’s mind, especially ones about entry points and Levi’s own equipment but he pushed them far away as the performance continued. 

Leaning in, Erwin buried his face in Levi’s neck and began to thrust, the two of them turning as they floated in bliss, moonlight cutting through the water to shine on their coupling, the ocean cradling them as they cradled each other. It was majestic, dazzling, and Moblit couldn’t tear his eyes away, not because of curiosity but because he knew he’d never see such exotic beauty again. 

The moved in synch, in a rhythm only for each other, the way they touched belying their love. Erwin’s hands began to travel, running over Levi’s torso and down as the pace picked up, his nose nuzzling one of Levi’s ear-fins. At that point Levi lost his hold on Erwin’s hair, his eyes going wide and- 

“Oh,” Hange exclaimed, breaking the dead silence in the lab. “I was wondering where Levi’s was. I can’t believe it just popped out like that!” 

Moblit sighed heavily, resisting the urge to put his face in his hands. It was on fire anyway since he blushed to the roots of his hair as Erwin took Levi in a webbed hand and began to pump along with his thrusts. 

Slowly their writhing forms flipped in the water, head over tail, and Levi began to seize, except this time there was no danger although there was urgency and a little death. By the look on Erwin’s face he wasn’t far behind his mate and both of them twitched, holding each other through to the end. 

Hange let out another whistle, and although their face wasn’t as red as Moblit’s felt, they had quite a blush across their cheeks. 

“I uhh…” Hange coughed. “I may have hit record when we first caught them on camera.” 

“Hange!” Moblit sputtered. 

“We’re never going to see them again, I wanted something to remember them by!” 

“You have the tails,” Moblit tried. 

“Which will dissolve in a few hours.” 

“But this is an invasion of their privacy! They don’t even know the cameras are out there!” Moblit chose that moment to glance back at the monitor. The mermen were now facing each other, and Erwin held Levi close, still nuzzling his ear-fin. It was almost more intimate than what they’d just seen and Moblit reached over to shut off the monitor but the movement on screen made him freeze. 

They broke apart and began to swim away, hand-in-hand. 

But not before Levi glanced over his shoulder and, with a satisfied smirk, looked directly into the camera and gave them a small wave goodbye.


End file.
